Undergraduate Course: Computer-Aided Design after 1960: Critical Practice and Disciplinary Debates (ARCH10044)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course focuses on developments in computer aided design in Great Britain, the United States and elsewhere between 1960 and the present. It aims to enable students to think critically about, and develop a set of arguments and positions on the role of computers, digital media and information technology in the making and functioning of architecture and the built environment. |
| Course description |
This honours course considers the primary developments in computer aided design in Great Britain and the United States primarily (to a lesser degree Japan and China) during the second half of the twentieth century. A reading seminar, the course invites students to relate and distinguish the various traditions of thought and practice that were invented and extended during this period. Through an exploration of phenomena such as the first man-machine graphical communication system for design (Ivan Sutherland's SketchPAD), and the early parametric modeling systems for the building industry (e.g. Charles Eastman's BDS system), we will seek to understand the immediate and long-term effects of computational technology and information technology on architectural practice and discourse. Through reading, writing and group discussions, we will define what it meant for designers and architects to work computationally in a range of geographic, cultural, political, socioeconomic, and material contexts. We will also familiarize ourselves with the major writings of some the key scholars of this historically recent but rapidly emerging field.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | At least 3 courses in Architecture, Architectural History, Landscape Architecture, Design, Computing, Media Studies or cognate subjects at Grade B or above. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of a range of key histories, theories and practices of computer aided design and information technology in the architecture and planning professions.
- Critically review and extend understanding of a particular topic of computing/computer aided design evidencing awareness of contested, constructed discourse.
- Produce a coherent, well-written and illustrated piece of academic writing, following appropriate referencing conventions.
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Reading List
Alexander, Christopher. 'The Question of Computers in Design.' Landscape 14, no. 3 (1967), pp. 6-8.
Coons, Steven A. 'An Outline for the Requirements of a Computer-Aided Design System.' In Proceeding AFIPS '63 (Spring), Proceedings of the May 21-23, 1963, Spring Joint Computer Conference (1963), pp. 299-304.
Cross, Nigel. 'Designerly Ways of Knowing: Design Discipline Versus Design Science.' Design Issues 17, no. 3 (2001), pp. 49-55.
Eastman, Charles. 'The Use of Computers Instead of Drawings in Building Design.' AIA Journal (March 1975), pp. 46-50.
Light, Jennifer S. 'When Computers Were Women.' Technology and Culture 40 (1999), pp. 455-83.
Simon, Herbert. 'The Science of Design: Creating the Artificial.' Design Issues 4, no. 1/2 (1988), pp. 67-82.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The graduate will have knowledge of, and courage to expand, theories, histories, concepts and principles of computer aided design, including knowledge of key pioneers and sites of research.
The graduate be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of how design computing and computer aided design have influenced and continue to influence architectural and landscape architectural design, design and urban planning locally and globally after 1960.
Graduates will be able to formulate questions for research of an appropriate scope, and synthesise information from multiple sources to produce clear, logically argued and original written work relating to the history and theories of computer aided design. |
| Keywords | COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN,ARCHITECTURAL CRITICAL PRACTICE,CRITICAL MEDIA STUDIES,ARCHITECTURAL HISTORY |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Miss Moa Carlsson
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Aidan Cole
Tel: (0131 6)50 2306
Email: |
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